Vera Baits Housing

Vera Baits Blues: The History of Vera Baits Housing

by Emma Bassett

Many students are disappointed to see Baits listed as their dormitory. I was one of them. In fact, everyone I've met living in Baits also said they were upset getting "stuck" there. You see, the Vera Baits Housing Complex is on North Campus at the University of Michigan.

Students have to take a bus to get to Central Campus, where the majority of classes are located. The inconvenient location prevents many students from exploring more of Ann Arbor for themselves. Though, some students do view this area as a break from the busyness of Central Campus.

Baits Housing (“Names of U-M Residence Halls”)

The Baits Housing Complex is in a spacious area at one of the highest elevation locations in Ann Arbor. The complex consists of Baits I, currently vacant because of maintenance issues, and Baits II, used as a freshman dormitory. Baits II consists of five houses, built in 1967 originally under the name of the Cedar Bend Project, the name of a nearby road and nature area. The nature area has trails that lead to the river and many trees. The buildings have various room layouts created under Swanson Associates architecture (Board of Regents, p. 1214). The room I live in is a split double suite, but there are also standard double and single suites.

Vera Baits Housing was named after Vera Burridge Baits, but the five buildings under Baits II all are all named after other people: Lucille Bailey Conger, Arthur Lyon Cross, Ellis Coman, Alexander Ziwet, and Hugo Paul Thieme (Board of Regents, p. 482). The faculty members of the Residence Halls Board of Governors chose these names. The traditional process for naming buildings, where a committee discusses all potential names, was used to name Baits. The committee looked at a list of recently deceased faculty members of the University of Michigan to gather the names (“Names of U-M Residence Halls”). Even though all these names were chosen for the individual buildings, Baits remains the overall name for the complex, which is how the dormitory is popularly referred to.

Ziwet, house at Baits (“Vera B. Baits Houses II Renewal”)

Vera Baits (“Vera Burridge Baits”)

Vera Burridge Baits lived from 1892- 1963. The name Vera was ranked 143rd in popularity among all other names chosen for babies born in 1892. The surname Baits "dates far back into the mists of early British history to the days of the Anglo-Saxon tribes. It is derived from the given name Bartholomew," according to House of Names. Bartholomew comes from a Greek version of an Aramaic name meaning "son of Talmai," which means "furrowed" in Hebrew, according to BehindTheName.com. The name Vera is of Slavic origin and means “faith” or “truth” (the Bump).

Just like her name, Vera was appreciated in her time, but her quiet manner made her appearance less prominent than others. She was born in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, and attended the University of Michigan, graduating in 1915 with a degree in teaching (Board of Regents, p. 310). During her time at the university, she was recognized as the Women’s Editor at The Michigan Daily (Michigan in the World).

She became a member of the Board of Regents, the second woman to become a member, and a member of the Board of Governors of Martha Cook Building (State Journal). She was known for rarely speaking during meetings, but when she spoke, she did so with conciseness and quality in content. Similarly to the name’s meaning, her colleagues appreciated her as “a most conscientious public official” and awarded her emeritus status after she passed away (Board of Regents, p. 310).

Vera Baits was very well respected, yet Baits is today often said disrespectfully just because of the building’s location and the disappointment that location has brought to freshmen. While students may wish they weren't assigned to Baits, they should remain open to living on North Campus and give it a chance before bringing more negativity to Vera Bait’s name.

Works Cited

“Buildings Named after Women.” "A Dangerous Experiment": Women at the University of Michigan, Michigan in the World, http://michiganintheworld.history.lsa.umich.edu/dangerousexperiment/exhibits/show/spaceandsegregation/the-evolution-of-women-s-space/buildings-named-after-women. Accessed 16 Nov. 2022.

"February 26, 1963." Detroit Free Press (1923-1999), Feb 26, 1963, pp. 20. ProQuest, https://proxy.lib.umich.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/february-26-1963-page-20-36/docview/1818655910/se-2. Accessed 16 Nov. 2022.

"May 14, 1943." State Journal (1911-1980), May 14, 1943, pp. 9. ProQuest, https://proxy.lib.umich.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/may-14-1943-page-9-24/docview/2031759871/se-2. Accessed 16 Nov. 2022.

“Names of U-M Residence Halls.” Living in History, LSA, https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/naming-project/buildings/baits/. Accessed 16 Nov. 2022.

University of Michigan, Board of Regents. “Proceedings of the Board of Regents (1957-1960).” Board of Regents of the University of Michigan Proceedings, Digital Library Production Service 2000, https://quod.lib.umich.edu/u/umregproc/acw7513.1957.001. Accessed 16 Nov. 2022.

University of Michigan, Board of Regents. “Proceedings of the Board of Regents (1966-1969).” Board of Regents of the University of Michigan Proceedings, Digital Library Production Service 2000, https://quod.lib.umich.edu/u/umregproc/acw7513.1957.001. Accessed 16 Nov. 2022.

“Vera.” The Bump, https://www.thebump.com/b/vera-baby-name. Accessed 28 Nov. 2022.

“Vera B. Baits Houses II Renewal.” Architecture Engineering and Construction, University of Michigan, 14 Nov. 2013, https://umaec.umich.edu/projects/completed-projects/vera-b-baits-houses-ii-renewal/. Accessed 4 Dec. 2022.

“Vera Burridge Baits.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 25 Nov. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vera_Burridge_Baits. Accessed 4 Dec. 2022.

Page updated

Report abuse